Democratic MicroFinance Project

U.S. Senator for Colorado. 'Karl Marx would have made a fantastic hedge fund manager'
Karl Marx and the world financial crisis: Bernd Debusmann. S Capital with David Harvey » Blog Archive » Organizing for the Anti-Capitalist Transition. Organizing for the Anti-Capitalist Transition David Harvey Talk given at the World Social Forum 2010 Porto Alegre The historical geography of capitalist development is at a key inflexion point in which the geographical configurations of power are rapidly shifting at the very moment when the temporal dynamic is facing very serious constraints.

Three percent compound growth (generally considered the minimum satisfactory growth rate for a healthy capitalist economy) is becoming less and less feasible to sustain without resort to all manner of fictions (such as those that have characterized asset markets and financial affairs over the last two decades).
Karma Capitalism. Slide Show >> Signs of worldly success abounded as members of the Young Presidents' Organization met at a mansion in a tony New Jersey suburb.

BMWs, Lexuses, and Mercedes-Benzes lined the manicured lawn. Waiters in starched shirts and bow ties passed out vegetarian canap?
S.
Inclusive capitalism. Inclusive capitalism is a term composed of two complementary meanings: (1) poverty is a significant, systemic problem in countries which have already embraced or are transitioning towards capitalistic economies, and (2) companies and non-governmental organizations can sell goods and services to low-income people, which may lead to targeted poverty alleviation strategies, including improving people’s nutrition, health care, education, employment and environment, but not their political power.

History[edit] Inclusive capitalism originates with philosophical questions that predate modern day capitalism. These questions regard people’s motivation. Are people motivated by what is best for their own self-interest, for the good of society or perhaps somewhere in between? Different philosophers have advanced their own ideas about these questions, including Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679).
BRIEF: People’s Bank of China, PlaNet Finance Research Project Aims to Upgrade Microfinance Risk Management. The People’s Bank of China, the central bank of the People’s Republic of China, and PlaNet Finance, a France-based nongovernmental organization, plan to carry out a study on “Expanding the Short and Medium Term Notes Market to Microcredit Companies in China.”

The purpose of the research is to upgrade risk management in Chinese microfinance. The reports are planned for publication during 2012 [1]. Although China’s micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) reportedly make up 90 percent of enterprises in the country, these companies are generally excluded from the formal banking sector, and thus rely on microcredit for funding. While the current regulatory framework does not allow microcredit companies to take deposits, the Chinese government is looking to expand other channels of microfinance funding [1].

By Natalie Baer, Research Associate About the People’s Bank of China: The People’s Bank of China is the central bank of the People’s Republic of China.
Bangladesh microfinance banker turns down World Bank post. Parminder Bahra » Blog Archive » Obama’s criticism of Wall Street banks extends to microfinance sector. Microfinance banks and their owners are no better than Wall Street banks and their owners.

As the petite 26-year-old works her way through some of New York City's poorer neighborhoods, she approaches women selling food and trinkets on the street and offers to lend them money to grow their businesses. The organization Medina works for, Grameen, is one of the world's largest microfinance outfits and has a Nobel Prize to its name for this work. But in New York neighborhoods where loans to street vendors tend to come with interest rates north of 40%, it can take a while to build trust.
Yes Bank launches YES MICROFINANCE -
YES BANK, Indias new age private sector bank, today announced the launch of YES MICROFINANCE, a specialised and dedicated division of the Bank focused on developing a pioneering strategy of Direct Intervention for the Microfinance domain.

YES MICROFINANCE aims to offer the entire gamut of financial services and products to the unbanked and under-banked sections of Indian population aimed at satisfying consumption demand as well as augmenting capital formation,thereby enabling Greater Financial Inclusion. YES MICROFINANCE, in a phased roll out, will offer credit, savings, insurance and remittance products to the underprivileged both in Urban and Rural areas with the Pilot programme being launched in Mumbai. YES MICROFINANCE represents the Banks commitment to mainstream sustainability principles within the Indian Financial community and is a reiteration of Responsible Banking philosophy.
BRIEF: United Nations (UN) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Provides $100m to Ethiopia for Rural Microfinance, Bridges to Traditional Banks. The United Nations (UN) International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), an organization working to alleviate rural poverty in developing nations, has pledged to provide USD 100 million to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for the Rural Financial Intermediation Programme Phase II (RUFIP II).

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia to Italy Mulugeta Alemseged and IFAD President Kanayo F Nwanze met recently to sign the agreement, which includes a USD 50 million grant and a USD 50 million loan [1]. When it was launched in 2001, the three objectives of RUFIP were to extend services to 1.5 million rural households, develop a community banking system through rural savings and credit cooperatives (RUSACCOs) and advance connections between the formal banking sector and rural financial institutions [2]. The program now reaches 3.3 million rural households, of which almost 50 percent are headed by women surviving on under USD 2 per day [1].
IFC Partners with Advans S.A. to Set Up Microfinance Bank in Oyo State, Nigeria. LAGOS, Nigeria, January 27, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is investing $1.1 million (174.5 million Nigerian naira) alongside Advans S.A., German development bank KfW, and Dutch development bank FMO to establish La Fayette Microfinance Bank in Oyo State, Nigeria.

La Fayette, which is expected to start operations during the fourth quarter of 2012, will serve small and medium enterprises that have limited or no access to formal banking services. Financial surveys indicate that only one in five Nigerian adults owns a bank account, and over half of the country's adult population is excluded from access to financial services. “With the objective of becoming the leading microfinance bank in Oyo State, La Fayette will address a critical gap by providing quality financial services to help small businesses grow and create jobs,” said Claude Falgon, Director of Advans S.A.

About IFC. MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: Global Microscope on the Microfinance Business Environment 2011. By the Economist Intelligence Unit, funded by The Multilateral Investment Fund, Corporación Andina de Fomento and the International Finance Corporation, October 2011, 72 pages, available at: . This paper examines the microfinance business environments in 55 countries, comparing them across three categories: supporting institutional framework, political stability, and regulatory framework and practices. It is the fifth annual paper in the series, covering the 12-month period through June 2011.

The research comprises data collected in 21 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, 11 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, seven of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, seven of East Asia, five of South Asia and four of the Middle East and North Africa. The authors argue that while microfinance has become more mature and sustainable, the global financial downturn lead to a downgrade in the quality of some loan portfolios resulting in the need for improvement, especially within risk management.
Obama uses NDAA to halt Iranian assets. Fiscal Policy. Arnold Kling: Ideology and Macroeconomics, by Arnold Kling: Scott Sumner writes, I am amazed by how many proponents of fiscal policy don’t understand that it’s symmetrical.

Fiscal policy doesn’t mean more government; it means more government during recessions and less government during booms, with no overall change in the average level of government.
MuniLand. Cantor Nixes President Obama’s Infrastructure Bank Idea. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is striking a gentler tone ahead of President Obama's Thursday jobs speech, and highlighting the areas he says Republicans can work with the administration to grow the economy -- unemployment insurance, payroll taxes, and infrastructure. But the devil is in the details, and there are still significant differences between the parties' approaches.
Technology Blog – Mobile Banking, Microfinance Information Systems and More. On a National Infrastructural Bank – News and Opinion from Social Democrats USA. Dems introduce bill creating Obama's infrastructure bank - The Hill's Floor Action.

House and Senate Democrats have introduced legislation that would establish a National Infrastructure Bank, similar to what President Obama has proposed in his jobs plan. On Tuesday, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) offered H.R. 3259, which would create the bank and fund it at $5 billion per year through 2015. Assuming that bill could be approved this year, it would provide $20 billion for the bank — double the initial amount of money the president requested.
Sen. Hutchison Opposes Democrats’ Infrastructure Bank Proposal Kay Bailey Hutchison. Health-care provision meets microcredit finance in Argentina. Mica opposes Obama’s call for national infrastructure bank - The Hill's Transportation Report. Obama called Thursday for Congress to approve a proposal for a federal infrastructure bank that has been pushed for by Sens.
Microfinance: An Alternative Means of Healthcare Financing for the Poor. Microfinance Goes Public - Forbes.com.

The Big Banks Have Sold Us Out. Democrats And Republicans Have Sold Us Out. No One Is Defending Our Interests. Our Future Is Going Up In Flames. It’s Time For Us To Stand Up And Defend Ourselves. CBO ranks Democratic and Republican stimulus proposals in one chart.